Vermont and New York brewers team up to create new beer

Jul. 20, 2012

Otter Creek Brewing in Middlebury and F.X. Matt Brewing Co. in Utica, N.Y., have combined forces to create H2, a hefeweizen-style beer that was released at this weekend’s Vermont Brewers Festival in Burlington.

The new beer is the first collaboration between the two breweries and will be available for a limited time. Otter Creek is brewing the beer with both brewers contributing to the recipe, combining local ingredients from both Middlebury and Utica.

“Throughout the collaboration process, our brewers have had the opportunity to explore new ingredients, equipment and styles, and ultimately bring the best of both breweries to our consumers,” Fred Matt, president of F.X. Matt Brewing Co., said in a prepared statement.

“There aren’t many industries that collaborate to bring better product to their fans since they compete for a leading edge,” said Mike Gerhart, brewmaster at Otter Creek Brewing, in a prepared statement. “In brewing, we always want to learn more and improve our beers for the good of our fans.”

The new beer has organic raw wheat from Addison County, about 10 miles from Otter Creek Brewing, and Wrobel Farms heirloom hops from Bridgewater, N.Y., about 20 miles from F.X. Matt Brewing. Most of the ingredients are locally grown, but the beer does use fresh culture of Bavarian hefeweizen yeast from Germany.

The brewers also incorporated Saranac Black Forest aged in a Jack Daniel’s whiskey barrel for several months, resulting in woody and vanilla notes with a light tartness that compliments the wheat, according to a press release.